Internet Radio Host Turner Unlikely To Appear In Court Until Next Week

DANIELA ALTIMARIThe Hartford Courant

Internet radio host Hal Turner, accused of inciting violence against two state lawmakers and a state ethics official on a website, likely won't appear in Connecticut to answer the charge until next week.

As of Thursday afternoon, Turner remained in a New Jersey jail, said state Capitol Police Chief Michael J. Fallon.

Turner, who has been identified as a white supremacist and anti-Semite by several anti-racism groups, hosts an Internet radio program with an associated blog. On Tuesday, the blog included a post that promised to release the home addresses of state Rep. Michael Lawlor, state Sen. Andrew McDonald and Thomas Jones of the State Ethics Office.

"It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally," the blog stated. "These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die."

The remarks on the blog were a reaction to the recent controversy over a bill before the legislature's judiciary committee that would have changed the way the Roman Catholic Church is governed, taking power away from church officials and turning it over to lay members. The bill was pulled in mid-March following an outcry from Catholics across the state and questions about its constitutionality. Lawlor and McDonald are co-chairman of the committee.

Last week, the controversy flared again when the Diocese of Bridgeport filed a federal lawsuit against state ethics officials, who are investigating whether church officials violated lobbying laws by organizing a rally at the state Capitol to protest the measure earlier this spring and not registering as lobbyists.

A message left with the person who answered the phone at the contact number listed on the blog was not returned.

Fallon said Capitol police learned of the blog posts from one of the targeted lawmakers on Tuesday "and by late Wednesday afternoon, we had him in custody."